Tell Me Again Was It Love at First Sight?
by theshipqueen
Summary: There's a new kid at school, and John has the hots for him. John/Dave; High School/Humanstuck AU; fluff; rated for language; don't like, don't read.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is my first Homestuck fanfiction, and the first fic I've written in a while, so sorry if it's terrible. The title is from the song "Deer In The Headlights" by Owl City.**

**Disclaimer: Homestuck and all of its characters belong to Andrew Hussie.**

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Tell Me Again; Was It Love at First Sight?

Your name is John Egbert and you will avoid going to school at all costs. You get bullied every day. Sometimes the bullies switch it up, though. Some days they punch you, some days they make fun of you, and some days they do both. Ever since you were little, you've had a pretty hard time making friends, so you really don't have anyone you can trust, apart from your dad, your twin sister, Jade, and her best friend, Rose. As for the avoiding going to school part, it doesn't quite work. Your dad makes you go and denies the fact that you're being bullied at all. Your sister, however, believes you entirely because she sees it happen every day. Unfortunately, Jade, being the socially inept person that she is can't stand up for you. She can barely stand up for herself. That's how the whole bullying thing started.

You wake up with an exasperated sigh. Your hand slams into the loud, annoying alarm clock that is buzzing in your ears. 'Great,' you think, 'another day where I either have the option of being made fun of all day, or having my face punched in. Awesome.' You stand up and walk over to your mirror and see that you have bruises all over your slender, lanky frame. On your arms, your chest, and your legs. Luckily, the bruises that once covered your face have faded, but the phantom wounds still sting when you run your fingers over your bony features. Ignoring your pain, you stumble over to your closet and get dressed. When you grunt as you sit at the kitchen table to eat breakfast, your father says nothing. He looks up at you from his newspaper, smiles, and says, "Good morning, John. Jade made you cereal. She just left a few minutes ago to walk to school with Rose."

You nod and mutter a "Thanks." to your dad. There's a bowl of cereal on the counter, so you pick it up and sit at the table. You sit in silence, eating your cereal. When you've finished, you put the empty bowl in the dishwasher, pick up your book bag, say goodbye to your dad, and leave to catch the bus.

As soon as the bus parks in front of the school, you see them. You're not sure of what their names are, but you recognize their faces. They're the guys that torment you day in and day out. Luckily, you're able to slip by and go unnoticed. Throughout the course of the day, you don't see them at all, which pleases you. But right before last period, you run into someone. "Sorry," you mumble, piling your schoolbooks together, kneeling on the ground. You look up to see a tall, muscular boy with gorgeous blonde locks falling perfectly over dark aviator sunglasses. "Gorgeous blonde locks?" No, you're completely, 100% heterosexual. There is no chance in hell that you like a guy like _that_. Well, then again, maybe there is.

"Sorry about that, bro." he says to you, holding out his hand. You grasp his hand and he helps pull you up off of the dirty tile floor.

"It's... f-fine..." you stutter, a blush creeping onto your cheeks. You feel your palms beginning to sweat, so you rub the back of your neck nervously. The blonde boy smirks at you. He holds out his hand again, but this time he wants you to shake it.

"The name's Strider. Dave Strider."

You shake his hand, hoping he doesn't notice how sweaty your hands are. "Hi, Dave... I'm... John Egbert." Jegus, you must really like this guy, whoever he is. You're not exactly sure why, though. "Sorry for running into you. I'm not exactly the most popular guy here."

He smiles slightly, "It's alright, really. I'm new here, so I guess I'm not very 'popular' either."

You smile a big, goofy, derpy smile. You suddenly become aware of your huge buck teeth, so you close your lips and grin awkwardly.

"You're pretty chill, Egbert. See ya around, I guess." he says with a wave, walking to his next class, and you wave back, even though he is no longer facing you. Everyone else must thing you're retarded, standing in the middle of the hallway, blushing and smiling like an idiot.

You're about to get on the bus when you feel someone grab your shoulder forcefully. "Where do you think you're goin', Egderp?" A shudder runs down your spine. "Haven't seen ya all day," he pulls you away from the bus, onto the plush green grass and takes a fistful of your green slime ghost t-shirt, "You think you could get away that easy?" Paralyzed with fear, you can't say anything. "Did you hear me, nerd?" You swallow hard, flinching as his fist rises level to your head.

"Hey!" a voice screams. That's odd; no one ever stands up for you. Ever. "Leave him alone!" the voice seems to grow louder, closer. You open your eyes and look to your left. It's Dave. Dave's the one standing up for you. But why? Before you can finish your thought, Dave is shouting again. "Are you deaf, numbnuts? I said leave the kid alone!" The wall of meat loosens his grip on your t-shirt, and begins to walk toward Dave. You make eye contact with Dave and look at him with a face that says "You have no idea what you're getting yourself into". Dave looks him (you think his name is Equius or something weird like that) right in the eye. "Do I have to repeat myself?" Dave says. You can't take this any longer. You may have just met Dave today, but you can't let him get hurt because of you. Quickly, you run around Equius, grab Dave's hand and make a break for it. You run faster than you ever have in your entire life, the blonde boy trailing behind you. "Don't look back! Keep running!" you say. Dave seems to understand, picking up his pace so you and he are sprinting side-by-side. While running like hell, you notice one thing. Your hands are linked together, rather tightly, at that. And the surprising thing is, you're actually okay with it.

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**A/N: Thank you for reading! I'll hopefully update this soon! Please review! It takes a second for you, and it makes my entire day! Thanks again! -Katie**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thank you all for the lovely reviews! It really means a lot! Also, thank you to my very lovely friend, Skylar for being my beta. Anyway, without further ado, here is chapter two!**

**Disclaimer: Homestuck and all of its characters belong to Andrew Hussie.**

Your name is Dave Strider, and you and your new acquaintance, John Egbert, have just run god knows how much from some guy trying to beat up John. After you're pretty sure you lost him, you stop, turn to John, and almost shout, "What the hell was that? I was _going _to tell him to stop!"

John looks at the ground, avoiding your eyes and says, "That happens every day and no one ever stands up for me like that, so I got kind of… freaked out, I guess." He rubs the back of his neck. Goddammit, he is so cute. Like a little bunny. Wait, what? You've only known the kid for a few hours, and you're already calling him cute? Great, now you're blushing. Fuck.

You clear your throat, hiding your nervousness, "Hold on… this happens _every day_?"

You notice that John is about just as nervous as you are. He's twiddling his thumbs and he's stuttering a little. He pauses, as if he's looking for the right words, but only mutters a simple "yes".

You too are now tripping over your own words, "How… how long has this been… going on?"

"Um, a few years…" he says quietly. You can't think of anything else to say, so you hug him tightly. This startles John, you notice. But after a second, he melts into your grasp and begins to cry softly into your shoulder. You move a hand from his back up to hold the back of his head.

"Ssh, ssh, it's okay," you soothe, playing with his messy hair. 'Note to self; don't bring up the bullying thing around John' you think. His grip tightens on you, showing no signs of letting go any time soon. Suddenly you notice that you're standing in the middle of the sidewalk with a sobbing fifteen-year-old latched onto you like a koala. In one quick, fluent motion, you sweep your hands under the backs of John's knees, pick him up bridal style, and sit on the grass on the right side of the concrete strip, with the weeping boy in your lap. He looks at you like a deer caught in headlights with his huge blue eyes. "D-Dave?"

"We need to get you home. I don't want anyone worrying about where you are." You say in a monotone voice.

"Well," he sniffs, "My dad will be at work for a few more hours, but I should probably call Jade."

"Okay," you have absolutely no idea who the fuck this Jade girl is. "Do you need to use my phone?" you offer.

"No, I have my own, but thanks." He stands up, wiping his tears away with the back of his hand. He pulls his phone out of his pocket and dials a number. You can only hear one half of the conversation, but from the way he talks to Jade, you assume that she's John's sister.

"Jade? Hey I'll be home in a little while; I got caught up talking to… a teacher. Okay. Alright. See you at home. Bye." He sits down next to you and lays his phone on the ground.

"So, this Jade chick, are you and her related or somethin'?" you say to the raven-haired boy.

"Yeah," John replies with a sigh, "She's my sister."

"Oh, okay." You both sit in an awkward silence for a minute or two, until John, who is examining a blade of grass says, "Thanks for what you did back there. I'm really sorry I dragged you into this whole mess."

"No." you state plainly.

"What?" John asks, cocking his head to one side.

"You shouldn't be the one apologizing, I should. And don't say you're sorry for dragging me into this. None of this is your fault, and I stood up for you because I wanted to, John."

"But you really didn't have to. I could've —"

"Don't say you could've handled it on your own. Your passive personality and bruises on your body say otherwise." You add flatly.

"But Dave—"

You shut him up with a firm kiss on the lips. His eyes blow wide, and then he begins to kiss you back. He's kissing you back! John Egbert, the boy you've been secretly admiring all day, is kissing you back! Yes, earlier, you bumped into him purposefully, but that doesn't matter right now. Your hand snakes up to the back of his neck, deepening the kiss. But just as quickly as the kiss began, it stopped. John pulled back, looking extremely flustered. "People are staring at us…" he says, almost inaudibly. You look at his face, which is bright red in color, and say, "Then maybe we should go somewhere more…" you lean in to whisper in his ear, "… private." His face turns even redder, (if that's even possible) a shiver runs down his spine, and he bites his lip as if he was holding back a moan. You _were_ in public, after all. "So, which way to your place, Egderp?" you say.

"We, uh, can't go back to my h-house," John says shakily, "Jade's home."

"Damn. I thought we'd have time for a quickie." The skinny boy is noticeably aroused by this. You store this information in your brain. It could be useful later. "Dude, I'm just kidding. But really, where's your house? The least I could do is walk you home."

"Um," he looks around, scanning the road signs, "We're on Schelby right now, and Schelby intersects with Kingswood down there, so we'll have to go left. I'll let you know when we get close." You begin to walk down a street called Schelby Avenue. You have no idea where in the everloving fuck you are. Well, then again, you did just move here. John seems to have something on his mind. You grab his hand with yours, intertwining your fingers. John looks at you and smiles, a blush slowly inching on the tips of his ears and across his cheeks. His fingers are very slim and long, you notice. "Do you play piano?" you ask, thinking out loud.

"Yeah, actually. Jesus, what are you, some kind of mind reader?"

You laugh at that last comment, "No, your fingers are just really…skinny. And long. I just kind of assumed."

"Well, you assumed correctly, Mr. Strider." John smiles again and squeezed your hand a little tighter. Hm, Mr. Strider; yeah, you could get used to that.

"Hey, John?" you ask.

"Yes?" he says, kicking a pebble.

"So, are we… uh, dating now?"

"We can be if you want." He smiles lightly, scooting closer to you, so that your arms are brushing together.

"I want to," you say, breaking the signature Strider Pokerface, grinning at your maybe-boyfriend.

"I do, too."

"So we're boyfriends, then?"

"That's kind of what dating means, Dave." He chuckles.

"Alright, smartass. But I don't think it technically counts as dating unless one person has been formally asked out to go on a date," you stop for a moment, pick an orange lily from its original setting, (in someone's flowerbed) hand it out to John and ask, "John Egbert, will you go out with me?"

John takes the flower, kisses your cheek, and replies, "Yes, Dave Strider. I will go out with you." He snuggles his head onto your shoulder. You walk like that for a while, John directing you where to go when needed. Eventually, you arrive at John's big white house.

"Wait, oh my god I just had the best idea hold on." You say, fishing a piece of paper from your wallet and writing your cell phone number on it.

"Dave? What are you…?" John's eyebrows rise in confusion.

"Wait, wait. Hey, I just met you and this is crazy, but here's my number, so call me maybe."

"I might just have to take you up on that offer." John walks over to you, taking the piece of paper from your hands and kisses the corner of your mouth. "Well, I should get going; I don't want Jade to start worrying. She goes a little overboard when she's worried."

"Okay. But can I at least get a goodbye kiss?" you ask, innocently.

"Sure thing, boyfriend."

You're a few inches short of being a whole head taller than John, so you lean down and give him a chaste peck on the lips.

"Are you sure you can find your way home?" he asks.

"I will. And I'm sure Bro won't mind if I'm late."

"Alright, just be safe. See you at school." John stands on his tip-toes and kisses you once more.

"See ya." You say as you walk down John's driveway.

~0~

Your name is John Egbert and you stroll into your spacious house, high on life. You see your sister in the living room, so you decide to go over and talk to her.

"Hey, Jade." You say, drawing out each word longer than they should be.

"Oh, hello, John." your sister turns around and instantly notices how happy you are. "What's got you in such a good mood?"

You're as giddy as a schoolgirl so you sit on the couch next to her and say, "You promise not to tell?"

"Yes, I promise, John." She says, aggravated at your childish antics.

"Pinky promise?" you ask, holding up your pinky finger.

"Good lord, John, just spit it out! The suspense is killing me!"

"Okay, well, I'm… seeing someone. As in, romantically." You see Jade instantly become more interested.

"Ooh! Who is it? Is it that Vriska girl?"

"Well, about that… It's actually a guy…"

"HA! I KNEW IT!" Jade screams, "Rose owes me ten bucks!"

"What? What are you talking about?" you have a bad feeling about where this is going.

"A while back, I was talking to Rose and I said I thought you were gay or at least bi and Rose thought you were completely straight. So we made a bet and now Rose owes me ten dollars."

"You bet on my sexuality?" you say, feeling extremely offended.

"Pretty much, yeah. So who is he? Is he cute?"

"His name is Dave Strider, and he's new here. Today was his first day and he moved here from Texas with his brother. And he's not cute, he's HOT."

"Ooh! What does he look like?" Jade asks, clapping her hands together.

"I'll make sure to introduce you and Rose to him tomorrow. Speaking of, I need to call him! Talk to you later, Jade!" you run upstairs to go to your room. From downstairs, you hear Jade say, "Go get 'em, tiger!" You take the slip of paper Dave gave you, put the number into your phone, and call it. After talking for a while, you and Dave decided on a time and place for your date. You're going to get dinner in a small café near downtown at 6 PM on Saturday. You don't think you're going to be able to wait five whole days for your first official date. You'll at least see Dave at school, so that makes up for it. Dating stuff aside, you still can't believe that Jade made that bet with Rose. You'll have to talk to her tomorrow. Until then, all you can do is fantasize about your date. And you do that into the wee hours of the morning, too excited to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Wow, I haven't updated this in quite a while! Sorry about that ^^; I've been quite busy lately with summer school and numerous other things. I realize that the last chapter went extremely too fast, so I'll do my best to slow this one down as much as possible. Thank you again for the wonderful reviews! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Homestuck and its characters belong to Andrew Hussie.**

Your name is John Egbert and you didn't get a wink of sleep last night. You were too busy imagining seeing your boyfriend. Funny, this time yesterday, you thought you were completely heterosexual. Groggily, you get up and get dressed. After getting dressed, you sit on your bed and check your phone. Nothing. Jade opens your door, stands in your doorway, and asks, "Are you walking to school with me and Rose?"

"I don't see why not." You say, yawning.

"Okie dokie," she tosses you a granola bar, "If you're going to walk to school, you won't have time to eat here. You'll have to eat on the way. Rose will be here in a few minutes, so get your stuff together!" Jade skips down the hallway, but then pokes her head in your doorway again. "Oh! And I can't wait to meet Dave!" she smiles and walks down the stairs. Any time you even hear Dave's name, you begin to smile. Then the not-so-happy thoughts come creeping into your mind. What if Dave's just looking for a quick, no strings attached, hookup? This all happened very suddenly, you recall. You'll have to talk to Dave about it at school today.

"John! Rose is here! Hurry up slowpoke~!" Jade calls from the living room. You stand up from your bed, pick up your bookbag, and walk down the flight of stairs.

"Hello, John," Rose says, calm as usual, "Good morning."

"G'morning, Rose. Gimme a sec, I have to tell dad I'm walking with you guys." You say, walking slowly toward the kitchen.

"Done," Jade chirps, stopping you in your tracks, "I told him while you were getting ready."

"Oh, thanks!" you smile at your sister.

"No problem! What are siblings for?" she flashes you a giant grin. "Are you guys ready?" You nod, as does Rose. "Alrighty! Let's go, then! Bye, Dad! See you after school!" Jade begins to walk out the door, so you and Rose follow her. You close the big, red door, and the three of you walk down your driveway. Luckily, you live within walking distance of your school, so you don't have to risk seeing those jerks on the bus.

"Oh, I almost forgot~!" Jade smirks, "Rose, do you remember that little bet we made?"

_Oh, no, _you think to yourself.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. What about said bet?" Rose says, stoic as ever. You feel your face heat up. You must be beet red by now.

Jade winks, "You owe me ten dollars, Ms. Lalonde." Rose sighs, smiling, takes her wallet out of her backpack, pulls out a ten dollar bill, but before handing it to Jade, she says, "Are you just doing this to mess with me? I know that your family is known for being tricksters."

Unable to take the torment any longer, you speak up for yourself, "She's not lying. Although I'm not completely sure what my sexuality is exactly, I do know that I… um, like guys, too? And I'm sort of… going out with a guy…? His name is Dave."

Rose smiles slightly, and rests a hand on your back, using the other to hand Jade the bill, "Well, I'm glad you've come to, albeit, rather simple, terms with your sexuality, and I hope that you know that Jade and I will support you no matter what."

"Thanks Rose. I'm just kind of scared about what Dad's reaction to this whole thing is going to be like."

"I'm sure he'll still love you just as much, Johnny," Jade smiles at you.

"I sure hope so," you reply. The rest of the walk to school is spent talking about seemingly meaningless things: school, grades, teachers, other friends, and the like. You get to school, and Jade will not stop pestering you. "Is that him? What about him? He's pretty cute! Ooh, him, too~!" And you reply with a soft jab to the ribs and an exaggerated, "Oh my gog, Jade, shut up!"

Suddenly you feel someone poke your shoulder. You turn around and see Dave standing there. "H-Hi, Dave!" you stutter, "This is my sister, Jade and my friend, Rose."

"Nice to meet you, Dave~!" Jade smiles widely.

"You, too." You wish he'd take off those dumb shades. You're completely unable to read his emotions with the pieces of plastic blocking his eyes.

"Hello, David." Rose smirks.

"Hey, Rose. Fancy seeing you here." Dave says.

"You two know each other?" you ask, confused.

"Yes, actually; David is my brother. Our parents separated when we were very young." Rose added.

"Yep. We see each other like once a year though, during the summer."

"That's nice," you smile up at Dave. You look at your watch. "Shit! We're going to be late to class!"

"I hope to be seeing more of you, Dave~!" Jade chirps, "And if you do anything, _anything, _to hurt my brother, I'll make you pay. Bye!" she grabs Rose's hand and skips off toward the doors.

"She seems like an absolute joy to live with." Dave scoffs sarcastically. He's just like his sister, you note.

"Tell me about it." You agree. You and Dave walk to your separate classes silently. You have Geometry first period, and he has Art. You wave to him and, walk up the stairs to your classroom. When you and Dave talked yesterday, you told each other about your schedules. You don't have any classes together before lunch, but after, you have Biology and English. Your first few classes seem to go by in a blur, but your class right before lunch, French, to be specific, feels like it drags on for what seems to be hours. That might be because you get to finally have some one-on-one time with Dave to talk about… things. Yeah, things. Very specific, numbnuts. Class is _finally _over, and you rush to your locker and get to the lunch room as fast as humanly possible. You see Jade and Rose already sitting at your usual table. You sit across from the girls and ask, out of breath, "Is Dave here yet?"

"No," Rose explains, "but I assume he'll be here very soon." She's not looking at you anymore. She's looking past you, smiling. You turn around and lo and behold, none other than Dave Strider approaching you (Rose and Jade, too, but they don't matter right now).

"Hey, Egbutt." He says, never breaking his poker face.

"Hi, Dave!" you reply. Out of the corner of your eye, you see Jade and Rose stand up. You turn around, and Jade says, "We'll give you two lovebirds some space," as she winks, walking off with Rose, probably going to sit with Kanaya and Tavros. You face Dave again. "Maybe we should go get our lunches now," you say awkwardly.

"Yeah, that might be a good idea." You swear you see him smirk the tiniest bit. You buy your lunches, and sit across from each other at the table. As you both start eating, you stammer, "Uhh, Dave? I kinda… uh, need to talk to you about something."

"Shoot." He says, with a mouth full of mashed potatoes.

"Do you mind if we, uh… take things slow? I mean just yesterday, I thought I was straight as an arrow." God, you are so _awkward._

"Dude, I'm fine with whatever you want to do. If you wanna go slow, I'm cool with that."

"Really? Awesome!" you smile. He smiles a little, too.

**A/N: Thank you so much for reading! I will hopefully be updating more often, I really do enjoy writing this~! I also might write some one-shots or something soon, too. :3 -Katie**


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